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Climate Health Connection: Environmental Pollution
Provided by: The Climate Reality Project |Published on: April 27, 2021
Videos Grades 6-8, 9-12
Synopsis
This video, narrated by Téa Leoni, shows how the oil, coal, and gas industries can affect people's health, with a particular focus on the effects in children.
Students will learn that extracting, refining, and burning fossil fuels pollutes the air, soil, and water with toxic chemicals.
The video concludes with clean energy alternatives, such as solar and wind energy, that can reduce or eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels.
This compelling video discusses a number of chemicals, substances, and health conditions that could be explored further.
It uses engaging footage that will keep students engaged.
Additional Prerequisites
The video presents solar and wind energy as clean alternatives to fossil fuels, but it does not explain the challenges inherent to using these different types of energy sources.
Science classes could study the effects of formaldehyde, lead, mercury, and sulfur dioxide on the human body.
Ethics or social studies classes could discuss the way that low-income communities are disproportionately affected by fossil fuel-related health problems.
Other resources on this topic include this video on the health risks associated with fracking, this SubjectToClimate lesson on Cancer Alley in Louisiana, and this article on the fossil fuel-related health issues that disproportionately affect low-income areas.
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About the Partner Provider
The Climate Reality Project
Climate Reality Project seeks to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society. They recruit, train, and mobilize people to become powerful activists, providing the skills, campaigns, and resources to push for aggressive climate action and high-level policies that accelerate a just transition to clean energy.
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